This week 21-27 May is National Volunteer Week and what better time to say THANK YOU to all our dedicated and hard working volunteers who make what we do possible.

You may have helped out once as part of your workplace giving program or you may be one of our dedicated regulars, on behalf of all the BAWCS shelter and sanctuary animals, we thank you for helping to make a difference!

While you definitely get your hands dirty caring for animals, it is such a rewarding experience. In the spirit of this years theme…Give a little. Change a lot….why not check out our Volunteer page and find out how you can get involved.

You just never know what the next phone call is going to bring. One month ago, we received a call for help from a compassionate lady whose gardener had unknowingly made contact with four tiny kits while whipper snipping. One of the kits had a bloody ear and leg but thankfully it looked like the 3 litter mates had narrowly escaped injury. Even with healthy orphan kittens, at just a couple of weeks old and being so fragile, we knew the road ahead was going to be long.

Our vet confirmed that “Whipper” had lost 2 of her tiny little toes, part of her ear and had a fractured leg. With medication and a splint placed on her leg to support the healing process, she became stronger. Her fighting spirit was clear as her little red leg did not slow her down.

The following couple of weeks were not without worry. With around the clock bottle feeds, they were drinking well until another of the kittens became quite unwell and was rushed to the vet late one night.

She was not looking good and we feared that she may not be strong enough to pull through. At this time we named the little one Amara. It has many beautiful meanings, one of those meaning “Immortal”. After a stay at the vet on fluids and anti-biotics, she began to improve. Following a course of anti-biotics and lots of love and care, she has grown into one of the largest of the litter.

Willy and Stormy have big shoes to fill, being named after two very special cats that have now passed. Stormy struggled a little early on, while Willy has remained the champion drinker and eater from day one to hold his title of the biggest of the litter. All four have now moved from their milk formula to kitten mousse. They are still getting used to the baby cat dry food but are growing bigger every day!

It has been a month of highs and lows, watching our “Orphan Foursome” overcome challenges and continue to grow. They touch our hearts with their little paws every day.

We can only make a difference to little lives such as these, with the support of compassionate people like you. If you would like to help support the cost of their emergency veterinary bill, kitten mousse and baby cat dry food, please make a donation to our Whipper Kits Appeal.

Thank you to McIvor Road Vet Centre for giving these little ones such great care attending to ‘Whipper’s” injuries and providing emergency care and medication when they have been sick.

This week is the Victorian Seniors Festival and while we recognise the wonderful seniors in our community, what better time to celebrate our senior pets who are waiting for a home!

Adopting a senior pet is a rewarding and heart warming experience. Not only will you make a difference in the life of the pet you choose but it is guaranteed to change your life too!

One of our special seniors awaiting a loving home, is our beautiful PEPPER! This sprightly senior is the most affectionate girl who just wants to be close to her “person’. She is quite a chatty girl, so she would be the perfect companion cat. She enjoys the occasional play but most of all she would love nothing more then spending the afternoon curled up on your lap.

BAWCS had a great day at the recent Australia Day Celebrations at Lake Weeroona, organised by the Rotary Club of Bendigo Sandhurst. With over 140 market stalls and free entertainment, crowds of people took advantage of this great event and the equally great weather!

Our star attraction was Phantom, our 19 year old miniature horse, who had an early start being loaded into the float and safely transported to the lake by our friends Ian and Ester from Horse and Country Bendigo. Phantom was set up lakeside with lots of visitors to charm. You would never know this was only his second public event and what a star he was!

Many people lined up to participate in our “Photo with Phantom” fundraiser with our Photographer Glynn Jarrett, who donated his time on the day. Together with his lovely wife Margaret, providing professional photo’s with Phantom to raise much needed funds for BAWCS. Glynn worked tirelessly to get the right shots and customers were able to walk away with a USB of photos or have them emailed to them the next day.

Thank you to everyone who visited our fundraising stall, to those who bought raffle tickets and those of you who purchased a Farm Friends Sponsorship (Phantom being the most popular on the day). It is only with the support of the community and compassionate people that we can continue to help the many animals that come into our care.

Thank you to all our volunteers on the day who made this possible and Ian and Ester from Horse and Country Bendigo, who once again transported our precious Phantom to and from the venue. Like to know more about Phantom, our star of the day? Check out his story here.

Bear, Pip and Jiffy were born in BAWCS care. We opened our doors (and our hearts) to their young mum “Caitness”, who was living on a farming property, heavily pregnant and unwanted. The next day, 3 beautiful little champagne kittens were born. Bear, Pip and Jiffy have grown into the cutest and funniest little kittens and are now ready to find loving homes!

As another year passes, we look back on all the lives we’ve been able to change in 2015 because of YOU! A huge THANK YOU to all of our dedicated volunteers, donors, sponsors, foster carers, business partners and adopters….we could not have done it without you!

We wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR and look forward to continuing our work in 2016 saving more lives and caring for the vulnerable.

Almost a month ago, a very special match was made with our beautiful Marvel. Such a gentle soul, who had been in BAWCS care for some time and was loved by all of our volunteers. It warmed our hearts when we received this lovely update from Marvel’s new “mum”, and we just had to share…

Thought Tony and I would send through an email letting you know how Marvel is settling in. Marvel is absolutely adorable and we love him to bits. He has settled in really well and seems to think he’s boss…lol!

He is very well toilet trained, no mishaps whatsoever and loves his tucker both wet and dry food and has his daily routine down pat….or should I say we have his daily routine down pat…like I said he thinks he’s boss 😉

Marvel loves his smooches, snuggles, pats and kisses with both Tony and I and distributes them differently with the two of us.

At night when it’s bed time, he snuggles right in with Tony and I on our bed, on our pillows behind our heads, at the foot of the bed or anywhere on there he feels comfortable. We often wake up at night and he’s on our pillow next to us looking at us, then he makes sure we’re okay and settles back in and starts purring all over again….until we move our tootsies and he’s up for a play 😉

He has started to become more adventurous within our home and looking into places he hasn’t yet gone. He knows exactly where his food is kept and even when Tony and I are in the backyard he is often at the sliding door watching and staying close.

He has found ‘his spot’ on the couch, on our laps, on the dining room chairs, on our bed, on the floor and has just started approaching his scratching post without as much fear.

Oh and he loves, loves playing with his toy mice and adores shoe laces.

The kids love him to bits and he is not so shy with them as he was when we first brought him home.

Tony and I just laugh at all the fun and cute little things he gets up to, even his cantankerous mood and crankiness at times.

We are so grateful for our furry feline child in ways I can’t describe and Marvel means the world to both Tony and I.
One thing I am so thankful for is BAWCS no kill policy because we would not have Marvel if that was the case seeing as he was a BAWCS resident for 2 years. How no-one snapped him up before us is unbelievable however he was waiting for the right family to come along and take him home and love and spoil him rotten, which Tony and I do without hesitation.

Marvel has started snuggling with one of his toy mice attached to a shoelace of a night time. If you look closely at his photo, the toy mouse is under his cute little head.
Before I sign off…this kitty loves TV…he sits there watching it with us…he sure is lovable.

Rusty was a pretty sad sight when he first arrived into BAWCS care, with a large open wound on his head and a damaged eye. While he was happy to have a loving pat and keen to get some attention, it was obvious this poor boy was in pain. As fate would have it, he had found himself at Central Victoria’s only “No Kill” shelter and he was in safe hands. He was immediately taken to our vet who suspected the head wound was an abscess which had been untreated. The eye had a very painful and deep seated ulcer, leaving the only option to remove the eye. A blood test also revealed a further challenge, he was FIV positive.

FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) is a feline disease which weakens the immune system and is most commonly spread through deep bite wounds that usually occur outdoors during aggressive cat fights.

Rusty underwent surgery to remove his damaged eye and repair his head wound. A flap of skin was stitched over the wound on his head but it was unknown if this would be successful given the size of the area. Rusty came through the surgery well however he was left with quite a few stitches and a drainage tube.

Rusty post surgery with drainage tube and stitches

A return visit to the vet confirmed that the skin flap hadn’t worked but the skin around the area appeared to be healing. A second surgery was undertaken and this time the stitches held and over time, the wound healed and revealed a very playful and vibrant young cat.

It was a long road of recovery for Rusty, but we never doubted that the process would be worth it…and he reminds us every day! Rusty is currently sharing with our group of “office cats” at the BAWCS Shelter, where he entertains us with his antics, sometimes his playfulness proving to be a little too much for the more mature “Pumpkin”.

Rusty ready for adoption!

Rusty is available for adoption now and ready to start his new life. If you would be interested in adopting this special boy, you can view his profile here.